Never Be Normal
by HeyStasia
Summary: AU: Total Drama never happened. All the characters go to school together. Mike hasn't gone to public school ever since his MPD diagnosis. He's spending his senior year in a real public high school. He isn't welcomed kindly. With help from friends, he fights for respect and equality in his new school. (PAIRINGS: Zoke, Dott & Scourtney, Duncney)
1. Part 1

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Mom asked you as she pulled into the carpool lane

"Yea, Mom," You looked at her with a grin and said, "There's no turning back now."

"You can get medication at the nurse any time," She said as you looked at the other kids with awe and excitement, "You have an emergency pass and can go to the nurse or the guidance counselor whenever you need to; remember that, Mike."

"I know, Mom," You looked at her again and reassured her, "I can take care of myself. I promise."

As she parked the car, she looked back at you and gave you a smile. "I love you, and I'm so proud of you."

"I love you, too, Mom," You grabbed your backpack from in front of the seat and opened the door, "I'll see you at the end of the day."

You close the door behind you and grin like a fool as you walk toward the front door of your new school. After so many years of being homeschooled, you can finally be in public school again. As you open the glass double doors, you stop to take your school schedule out of the pocket of your shorts and your map out of your other pocket. Your first class of the day is Advanced Placement Economics and Public Issues in room 12. You try to find it on the map, but it's difficult to decipher and you don't know where you are in relation to the map itself. You feel a tingling in your forehead and then your eyes cross and twitch and then you inhale and become someone else. "This dang map is too frustrating," Chester, the old man, rambles, "I remember in my day when I didn't need any blasted maps—"

"Excuse me?"

You inhale again, then exhale, blink rapidly and shake your head for a bit. A guy your age has stopped in front of you with a confused, yet amused look on his face. He took one of his earbuds out of his ears to guarantee he heard you right. He looked like someone who probably shouldn't have seen a Chester episode. Green mohawk, facial piercings, spiked jewelry, and a defining unibrow.

"Uh…" you stammer.

He gives a laugh, turns his head away, notices what you assume to be his friend, and says, "Fuckin weird ass shit for the first day," and he called out to his red-headed friend, "Ay, Scott, you gotta listen to this shit!"

You immediately turn around and start walking the other way as your thoughts race "shit, fuck, dammit" and you actually run into another person. "Dude, I am so sorry," you say to the small black kid with glasses you just knocked over, "I didn't notice you."

"It's okay," he says as he gets up, "I get that a lot."

You offer him a hand to help him up. He accepts, and you pull him up with ease due to his small stature. You then try to explain to him why you ran into him with "I'm just new here and I was trying to—"

"I'm new, too," he said with gusto, cutting you off, "It's my first day of public school in my entire life!"

"Really?" You ask with a smile, "This is my first day in public school since first grade."

"That's a crazy coincidence," He said, beaming, "My name is Cameron."

"I'm Mike."

"It is sort of odd that I'm only spending my senior year in public school—"

You cut him off with a grin, "Me too!"

"This is amazing!" He said, fascinated, "What's your first class?"

You glance at your schedule again before answering, "Advanced Placement Economics and Public Issues."

"That's my first class, too!"

"We probably should go find it," You said with a laugh.

"I agree," He replied.

And off you went in search of your first period, walking side-by-side. "So, what brings you to public school after all these years?" You ask.

"I was homeschooled my entire life," He began, "My mom is very protective, so she kept me in a germ-sealed bubble while I was at home. I always longed to be with more kids my own age on a daily basis. Going to home school gatherings just isn't the same. My mom finally caved in and decided that senior year was going to be my year to live: to prosper! So how about you?"

You weren't sure how to respond. One student already witnessed your condition today and the reaction wasn't exactly compassionate and understanding. Should you trust your condition to the first person who has treated you with kindness? "Well," you began, but, Cameron didn't give you a chance to respond.

"I think we're getting close to our classroom," He said, "It's in room 12 and we're at room 10."

It was probably for the best that Cameron didn't know you were homeschooled because of your MPD. You developed it when you were in kindergarten and your dad became violent. Mom divorced him after three years of abuse- after all of your personalities were formed. She wanted to protect you, so she sheltered you in homeschooling.

You walk through the door of your first period class and you're struck with confusion. No one else is in the room. You look at Cameron and he is just as confused as you are. "Are we in the right place?" He asks.

"I'm not sure, man," You reply.

"Cameron Wilkins and Michael Franklin?" A friendly female voice asks from behind you.

You both turn around and see who you assume to be your teacher. "Yes?" Cameron inquires.

"I'm Mrs. Brown," She says with a smile, "welcome to Columbus High School. I was told I would be getting two former homeschoolers in my first period."

"How did you know we were the homeschoolers?" Cameron asked.

"I heard you ask if you were in the right place. The rest of these kids have been here for years and know the morning routine."

It turns out that most kids don't come into the classrooms until the first bell—which Mrs. Brown explained was like a warning to get to class—so you and Cameron were all alone with Mrs. Brown. She showed you a seating chart and pointed out your assigned seat and Cameron's assigned seat. It was in ABC order by last name, so you sat in the second row, but Cameron's seat was in the back. "Excuse me, Mrs. Brown," Cameron began as you sat down, "I have trouble seeing words from far away and I don't know if I'll be able to see your lessons from the seat you've assigned me."

"Well," Mrs. Brown looked at her seating chart and said, "There's an empty seat next to Mike, so you can sit there. But if I catch you two distracting one another, you're getting separated. That's how it works here."

"Thank you!" Cameron said, and hurriedly sat in the seat to your right.

You smile at him and he smiles at you. You then turn your attention to the seating chart, now being projected for the class to see when they arrive. What seals your focus is the amount of girls in this class. You've never had any romantic encounters before, and it's on your senior year bucket list to hook up with a girl at least once. "Hey, Cam," You whisper to him, "Which girl do you think will be the prettiest?"

"Going solely off of names?" He asks

"Yea, just names," You confirm

"Well, it's hard to tell just with names, but Bridgette is a pretty name."

"I think Heather will be the hottest," You say as the first bell rings

And suddenly, all the students came pouring in at once. A blonde girl walks in with a pale girl with teal and black hair and a tall boy with long, dark hair who has a guitar case for a backpack. An Asian girl with long hair walks in holding hands with a muscular, Hispanic guy. As a mixed-looking girl with short, brown hair walks in with a cup of Starbucks, you turn to Cameron and whisper, "I guess the Asian model is taken."

"Do you think the girl with blue hair is dating the guy with the guitar?" He whisper-asks me.

"No, she's currently single," A female voice suddenly answered, "They dated once in like sophomore year, but it ended badly. They didn't talk to each other all of junior year."

When you turn around to where the voice came from, you find the prettiest girl in the class. She has big brown eyes on a heart-shaped face with short, bright red hair topped with a black bow. "Sorry," she added, "I couldn't resist piping in. You guys are new and you don't know the entire scoop, but I promise I'm not a gossip-geek," She giggled after she said that. It was really cute, "I'm Zoey; I sit behind you guys."

"I'm Cameron," He says with a smile. He's a very happy dude.

"I'm Mike," You say, trying to play it cool.

She put her Great Gatsby tote bag on the desk behind Cameron's and sits down. She folds her arms and rests her chin on them. She rapidly blinks her eyes, lined with a cat-eye design, and whispers, "You guys want to know what's up with the other kids here? I've known them since freshman year. Just point out someone."

You smile, intrigued with her personality and her offer, "The blonde girl who came in with the not-couple," You suggest

"Bridgette? She's been dating the same guy since summer after freshman year. They're so in love: it's ridiculous."

"Do you know anything else about the blue haired girl?" Cameron asks, leaning in and whispering.

"Gwen? She broke up with her last boyfriend after junior prom. He is such an asshole. I used to have a crush on him, too," She grinned like a goof, "I was so stupid as an underclassman."

"The guy with the guitar?" You ask

"No, this other guy," She rolled her eyes before continuing, "Duncan Haynes. He's easy to spot. You'll see him by the end of the day. Piercings, green mohawk—"

"Oh shit," You interrupted, "I saw him today."

"He's such a dickwad," Zoey said

You laughed before asking "Okay, what's the deal with the Asian girl and the Latino?"

"Heather and Alejandro," Zoey said with a sigh. She signaled for the two of you to lean in closer. This was a big secret, "Rumor has it that he treats her like shit. They've been together since the start of junior year and their relationship supposedly has gotten worse and worse. If that's true, it's really sad. I always thought Heather was bitch queen, but I feel really bad for her for being with a jerk."

"That is sad," Cameron agreed

"Oh, and the girl talking to her is Courtney Smith. She's president of our graduating class," Zoey added, "She's been hooking up with that punk Duncan ALL summer. They dated before, then he cheated on her with Gwen, then Gwen dumped him, and Courtney spent the summer sleeping with him AND his best friend. Rumors. All of it. Don't take my word for it," She gave a giggle after.

"You sure you're not addicted to gossip?" You say with a nervous smile.

Her eyes widen and she slaps her hands over her mouth, "I'm not, I swear!"


	2. Part 2

The bell rings just as your stomach growls. You didn't expect to be so hungry at only eleven. You also didn't expect Spanish class to be so awful. That Duncan kid and his ginger friend, Scott, are in that class. What's worse is that Duncan sits next to you. You grabbed your backpack and got out of there as soon as possible.

Next was lunch; thank god. You walk to the cafeteria and suddenly, all your fears come rushing back to you. What if you sit alone? What if Duncan and Scott told everyone about your "incident" from this morning? You spot Cameron walking in with a facial expression similar to yours, so you decide to help him out. "Hey, Cam!" You said, relieved.

He looked up and said "Mike!" with enthusiasm and made his way toward you.

"I'm glad there's someone I know here," You said to him.

"Me, too."

"Now where can we sit?"

You both look around to see people quickly claiming tables. You make your way toward an empty one near a vending machine in the corner. You put your backpack on the table to claim it, but you're quickly stopped.

"No way, freaks," You look to the source of the voice to see it was Duncan who called out, "That table is going to be for our girls. Not for some bubble-boy and his method-actor buddy."

Scott, Alejandro and this other kid were laughing at Duncan's idea of a joke. The other kid said in-between laughter, "Bubble-Boy and Method Actor? Sha-comedy!"

He offered a hi-five to Duncan and Duncan said "Thank you, Lightning."

You hear high heels walking toward you and a voice behind you asks, "Are these the guys you told me about, Alejandro?"

"Yes, Heather," Alejandro respond with his suave, cool collected voice, "We tried saving this table for you girls but they're trying to sit here."

A shorter girl with an obvious fake tan and ridiculously big hair spoke up with a heavy Jersey accent, "What's so bad about these shrimps?"

"Anne Maria," Lightning explained, "These are those freaks I texted you about."

"Oh god," She exclaimed in her thick accent, "Why don't you two sit with that other freak, Gypsy Girl?"

"That is actually a great idea," Duncan agreed, "Lightning, your girl ain't so sha-dumb after all."

"I know. I caught myself quite a sha-catch."

Heather pointed to the other side of the cafeteria and said "The Freak Table is over there. Why don't you just go over there and learn your place?"

You pick up your backpack, sling it over your shoulder and look at Cameron, who is frozen in shock. "Come on, Cam," You whisper to him, "It'd be better if we just did what they said."

He snaps out of it and you two take the walk of shame to the Freak Table. "How could they be so mean?" Cameron asks you.

"I don't know man," You answer truthfully, "People can really suck sometimes."

When you get to the table, you see a tiny, pale girl with long blonde hair sitting in lotus position on the table, her lunch in front of her. "Hello," She says with a soft voice, her eyes still closed, "I've never felt these presences before. Are these new students in front of me?"

You and Cameron give each other a confused and concerned look. Cameron decides to speak first. "Yes… My name is Cameron and this is Mike."

She finally opens her eyes and smiles at you both. "Hello," She says very cheerfully, "My name is Dawn."

"Dawn," Cameron continued, "How did you know Mike and I were in front of you without opening your eyes?"

"Oh," She said with concern in her voice, "I'm sorry, did I startle you two?"

"You could say that," You replied

"I'm so sorry. Sometimes my gifts just happen and I forget to act normal," She started hiding her face in her hands, "I'm sorry."

You started to feel extremely bad for her, so you sat in the chair in front of her and tried to comfort her, "Hey, don't get upset. It's totally okay to be yourself."

"Yea!" Cameron piped in, "We were just shunned for being freaks ourselves!"

"Cameron," You said with a combination of disappointment and annoyance, "That's not exactly something you declare to someone you just met."

"No, it's okay," Dawn said, removing her face from her hands, "I'm the freaky-gypsy-girl to everyone else. I've been shunned for years. You two are new and you're already being shunned?"  
>"I guess so," You said.<p>

"So you don't mind if we eat lunch with you?" Cameron asked

"I don't mind at all," Dawn said with a smile, "As long as you don't mind me."

"We don't mind," You and Cameron said.

Cameron sat down next to you and took out a jelly sandwich. "No peanut butter?" You ask.

"Allergies," He responds, "You can eat it around me. I just can't eat it or touch it myself."

You nodded showing your understanding. You took a turkey sandwich out of your insulated bag and wanted to talk to Dawn some more about these "gifts" of hers. "Dawn," You begin, "What did you mean when you said you have gifts?"

"You won't think I'm too strange and leave if I explain, will you?"

"I promise that we won't," You said with a reassuring smile

"I'm a psychic of sorts."

"A psychic?" You and Cameron ask. You ask with confusion, he asks with fascination.

"I can read auras and predict futures," She said with caution, "And I can talk to animals and I'm very good at diagnosing people psychologically."

Diagnosing people psychologically? That made you nervous. Luckily, Cameron decided to speak up

"What are auras?" Cameron asks

"A person's personality and emotions. It surrounds them and is represented by a color, and I can see that."

"That's actually really cool," You tell her, happy to move away from psychosis.

"You don't need to lie to me," Dawn says, hiding her face from you

"I'm not lying," You tell her sincerely, "That's really cool of you. Could you tell me what my aura is right now?"

She stares at you for a few moments before saying "Lots of orange and purple because you are engaged in what I am saying."

"I don't know why people avoid you, Dawn," You said to her, "You're really nice and basically have superpowers."

She laughed and said "No one ever put it like that before. I think I've come on too strong with my abilities in the past. I don't know how to act like a normal kid."

"Well clearly, we don't, either," You said

"I don't want to seem sudden and abrupt," Dawn said with her soft little voice, "But may I consider you two my friends? I don't have many friends, and I'd like to have some."

You smiled at her and said as a kind-of-joke, "Only if we can eat lunch with you every day."

She laughed again and said, "It's a deal."


	3. Part 3

**A/N: This story will be changing POVs. Mike & Zoey's POV are the primary focus, but Dawn and Scott (and maybe some other characters, we'll see) will have parts in their POV as well. Thank you!**

You walk into one of the art rooms and beam when you see the displays of cameras and photographs. You brush your red hair out of your face and grin like a fool. Taking photography was one of the best choices you made so far in your high school career. Your best friend, Dawn, is sitting by herself with her eyes closed and her blonde hair draping her face. You go to sit next to her and you notice she's humming. Mediation. You sit down next to her and say "Pssst… Dawn!"

She opened one of her blue eyes to see you, "Hello, Zoey," She said in her soft voice, "It's nice to see you again."

"Aww thanks Dawn," You said as you sat down next to her, "Same to you."

"How was the beach?" She asked

"It was okay," You tell her honestly, "It was impossible to flirt with any boys with my parents around all the time. That was literally the only thing I was looking forward to. Luckily for me, there's a new kid in our graduating class who is super cute and doesn't seem like a total douchebag."

Mike is actually super, super cute and seems really, really nice. He has this dopey grin with a gap in his front teeth that is absolutely adorable. You adore his unique coiffed hairstyle. Most guys don't have the guts to do that. And tall, lean men are your preference as oppose to big, muscular ones. From what you know about his sense of humor, it's spot-on, which is very attractive to you, and he's in an AP class, so he has to be smart; intelligence is sexy. If he's artsy, he is basically perfect.

"You mean Mike?" Dawn whispered to you, "I could tell he was the subject of your brief daydream."

"You've met him?"

"Yes, he has my lunch," She was smiling; she must approve, "He's a very kind person."

And he's nice to Dawn? You need to spend time with this boy. He treats your best friend well, unlike 98% of the school—the icing on the cake. "Does he know about your abilities?" You ask her

"He and his friend Cameron do, yes."

"You met Cameron, too? They both are understanding?"

"Very much so," She said with a smile, "I made friends, Zoey!"

"That's really awesome, Dawn," You were genuinely happy that she's made friends. You're really Dawn's only friend, so it's great that she's branching out. You continue with, "How was your summer? You went back to the nature reserve?"

"I did," She said, "DJ and I cared for bird and rabbit families this year." Dawn stays at a nature reserve every summer to care for the animals there.

You were going to ask her if she was Park Ranger Dawn for any summer camp field trips (she was always very nervous about that) when you were disrupted by the bell. Ms. Swanson was your teacher, and you were so glad. You had her sophomore year for your studio art course and thought she was the greatest. "We literally have a full classroom," she said as she was walking in, "There will only be two empty seats, so have fun finding them. And try to be earlier in the future, kay?" Ms. Swanson was the sass master.

Your excitement for the class suddenly fell short when you saw who Ms. Swanson was talking to. Duncan and Scott: two of your least favorite men. You scan the room to see where they'd be sitting, and you were disappointed to learn that the only two empty seats were not with Courtney and Gwen (who were also taking the class), but with you and Dawn. As they walked toward your table, Duncan and Scott both gave a nod to Courtney and/or Gwen as if to say "'sup, girl?" Both girls rolled their eyes, but Courtney was smiling while Gwen was scowling.

"Look who it is," Duncan said quietly so he wouldn't be yelled at, "Red and Gypsy."

"Hello, Duncan. Scott." You said, annoyed.

"Is Gypsy not going to say hello to us?" Duncan asked with his asshole tone of voice.

Dawn typically stayed quiet around Duncan and Scott. When she tried to communicate with them in the past, she was horribly bullied. On the inside, she knows that Duncan's parents weren't around much when he was a kid, which resulted in his need to be the center of attention, and Scott's parents were home, but didn't give him affection, so he's always very ignorant of people's feelings and doesn't know how to feel empathy. It does give you a new perspective with these issues, and you are sorry that they don't have good home lives, but they're still jerks.

"I'd rather not, thank you," Dawn said, remaining civil.

"Alright, suit yourself," Duncan continued, "I just haven't seen you since June and I was missing you."

Ugh, he's obnoxious. Can Gwen and Courtney trade seats with you and Dawn? The one thing that puzzled you was why Scott wasn't "joining in on the fun". This seemed right up his alley, but he was just smiling at Duncan's little "jokes".

"Look, Duncan," You said to him, dead serious, "I'm here because I actually enjoy photography. I don't know why you're here, and I don't care why you're here. I'm not here to socialize with you, I'm here to learn, and I'd appreciate it if you'd respect that."

He rolled his eyes with a smile similar to Courtney's from earlier and said "Okay, Red, whatever you say."

For the rest of the class, you actually got to listen to Ms. Swanson discuss the curriculum. You were going to be using so many different cameras this year and studying so many different subjects. It's going to be really exciting.

"Alright, we have about five minutes left," Ms. Swanson said, "So you guys can chill. Just don't leave the room until the bell."

Duncan and Scott got up and went to Courtney and Gwen's table. You were relieved, but it seems your annoyance was transferred to Gwen. She did not look happy to see those boys. "Dawn," You nudged her arm, "Can you read Gwen from here?"

"Hmmm," She began to concentrate on Gwen. You thought it was so rad that she could do this kind of thing. She did her best to read her and said, "There's sulfur coming off of her. Gwen hasn't been sulfur since she and Trent's relationship was on the rocks."

You knew that sulfur meant feeling uneasy, so you were wondering what it was specifically coming from, so you asked Dawn if she knew where it was coming from. "Definitely one of the boys," She said.

"How much money do you want to bet that it's Duncan?" You asked.

"You did mention that their breakup was rather messy," Dawn said to you.

"It was," You confirmed.

"What's strange," Dawn continued, "Is that Courtney, Scott and Duncan's auras are all very pink. Duncan's and Courtney's have more red elements, but Scott is very, very pink."

Pink? Pink is love. Scott is either gay for Duncan (knowing what he's done at homecoming dances, you doubt that), or he likes… Courtney? Like actually likes her. You heard that they were hooking up over the summer but he actually likes her? That's something you'll have to see to believe.


	4. Part 4

The final bell rang and you were so relieved. The first day could not have ended sooner. You put your chair up on the desk, grabbed your car keys out of your bag and put your bag over your shoulder. You neaten up the blue dress you picked out just for today and head out the door. The hustle and bustle of all the other kids trying to go home is now trivial to you. You pull your phone out of your bag, put your earbuds in, and showtunes began to play. Listening to songs from last year's fall musical made you miss the old company, but made you excited for your senior year musicals. After reaching the carpool lane, you start to head to your car, but notice Mike sitting on a bench by himself. Your heart skips a beat because you didn't expect to see him, but he looked so lonely, so you decided to join him on his bench. "Hey," You said with a smile.

"Zoey!" He responded, smiling back. That grin of his is adorable.

"You looked lonely," You explained, "And I think you're cool, so I wanted to talk to you."

On the outside, you could keep your composure because of your training in theatre, but on the inside, your heart was racing and you were so fucking nervous. Mike is a really cute guy and you don't want to ruin your chances with him. "You think I'm cool?" He asked with his adorable grin.

"Yea, I do," You replied honestly. You wanted to maintain the conversation, so you decided to ask, "How was your very first day of high school?"

"It was slightly disappointing. Not all of it, though." When he said that, he looked you dead in the eyes. You tried to maintain eye contact, but your nerves got the better of you and you looked away, brushing your hair behind your ear.

"Is there anything you want to do this year?" You asked.

"Oh, wow, so many things," He said with excitement, "I want to go to the dances and the football games and audition for plays—"  
>Oh shit, he likes theatre. His hotness points went up about 200 percent. Now, you're just praying that he actually has talent. "Dude, I love theatre! Have you ever been in a show before?"<p>

His eyes lit up when you mentioned your interest in theatre. "Yea!" He exclaimed, "I've done community theatre for years."

"That's so rad," You told him, "And we could always use more male talent. Talented boys are a major minority in school theatre."

He laughed before saying, "Ain't that the truth."

"And I'm so glad that you get to experience Columbus High School's theatre. There are so many opportunities for actors and techies and it's so great."

"Really?" He was so interested. He is clearly passionate, and that's so attractive to you. He slid closer to you so he could pay more attention, "Like what?"

"We do two musicals every year," You explained, "One that focuses on ensembles, and one that focuses on leads. That way, multiple actors get chances to shine. And all of our tech is done by students. I'm on the costume team."

He looked so impressed. "You are?"

"Yea! I spent my entire summer looking for inspiration for Little Shop."

"We're doing Little Shop of Horrors?" He asked, excited.

"Yes! I'm so ready for this show. I really want to play Audrey."

"You could totally kick ass as Audrey."

"Really? You think so?"

"I do." He sounded so genuine. His smile wasn't dopey, but caring, soft and sweet.

You turned away and did that thing with your hair again before arguing, "But you haven't even heard me sing."

"That's true," He said, "But you said you need more male talent. How do you know I'm talented?"

You laughed softly, "Touché, Mike. What other roles have you played, then?"

"I was Seaweed in Hairspray most recently, I understudied for Billy in Anything Goes last summer—"

You didn't even let him finish. That was proof enough that he was talented; he played these roles in community theatre—a step up from high school theatre. He could definitely be the Seymour to your Audrey, "You're talented. I don't even need to hear anything else. Maybe you could win us an award."

"Awards?" His eyes widened with awe.

"We're part of like the Tony's for high school theatre. It's super cool. Student critics nominate shows for awards and then we go to an awards show in May to receive said awards. I'm a critic for our school. Hopefully this year, I'll be Lead Critic," You said, smiling.

"I didn't even know that was a thing!" Mike is so cute when he's excited.

"Is it a thing you'd want to do?"

"Yeah! I want to do as much as I can!"

"Little Shop is the show we're taking in the program," You continued with enthusiasm, "Since last year, we took our ensemble-heavy show, this year, we're taking our show focused on leads."

"It's so cool that you do two musicals," Mike said, "I prefer musicals, personally. What's the other one? The one for spring?"

"Into the Woods, I think."

His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. "I love Into the Woods! I've always wanted to be in it," He knows a lot about good theatre. You began questioning his sexuality. He continued, "What shows did you guys do last year?"

"Our leads show was Aida and our ensemble show was Seussical. We won the award for Featured Ensemble in a Musical because our Wickersham Brothers were awesome."

"What other awards did you win?" He was so intrigued and interested in every word you said and it was so cute. You just wanted to go 'daaaaww' and curl up in a little ball of 'you're so cute', but you couldn't, because that is not socially acceptable.

"We won Comedic Actress in a Musical for our Gertrude, Best Makeup, Best Costumes and Best Marketing and Publicity. Not trying to be humble-brag, but I made like all the Bird Girl and Wickersham Brother costumes, basically why we won the costume award." You hope he caught your wit and didn't think you actually meant that.

He laughed (phew!). "Were you nominated for any other awards?"

"Yeah," You said, "Best set, best song, male vocalist, supporting actress and comedic actor."

"So this is like a legit good theatre school?"

You chuckled, "Kinda, yea. I mean, I have fun."

Just then, an SUV pulled up and Mike said, "That's my mom." He began to get up, but you kept him a little while longer.

"Wait, before you go," You took out your phone and handed it to him. He punched some numbers in and handed the phone back to you and you said, "Text me when you can."

He smiled as he said, "Sure thing. Bye, Zoey," And he got in his mom's car and they drove away.


	5. Part 5

**A/N: WOW it's been a while. Well I'm back from hiatus and more parts should be coming. :)**

**Mike's POV**

You opened up the SUV door and saw your mom's bright, beaming smile. "So you're already making friends, Mike?"

You smiled to yourself, put your backpack down in front of the seat. "Yea," You began, closing the door, "That was Zoey."

"Did you make any other friends?" She asked with enthusiasm. She started the car.

"This guy named Cameron and this girl named Dawn."

"I'm so glad you made friends, Mike," She said, "Did you have any issues with your condition today?"

Well, you did, but you don't want Mom to worry anymore than she already does. You decided to lie. "It was completely under control."

"That's great," She said, still smiling ear to ear.

"And I learned about the theatre here," You added, to change the subject, "The school puts on two musicals a year and I can go to other schools' shows and critique them and nominate them for awards."

"That sounds so exciting, Mike," She started the car and began to drive away, "I'm so glad school is going well for you."

Zoey waved to you from the bench you were on moments ago and you waved back. She watched you drive away, and then she started to walk toward her own car. You exhaled and gazed out the front windshield.

"So is this Zoey girl just your friend or—"

"Mom," That's embarrassing and she isn't allowed to ask you that, "We literally just met today."

"I know, I'm just wondering if you'd want to go out on a date with her."

"I don't know… maybe—"

"My little Mikey is gonna have his first girlfriend!" She squeed

"Oh my gosh, Mom, we literally just met!"

"If you asked her out on a date, she'd say yes—"

"You don't know that—"

"What's not to like about you, Mike—"

"I don't know if I'm her type—"

"You know what they say: opposites attract—"

"Mom, what if I—"

"What, what if what, Mike, why are you so worked up—"

"What if I have an episode, okay?" She was silent. You kept talking, loudly. "I'm scared that once she finds out about my condition she's going to shun me, tell all of her friends about it, and then I'll be cast out from the whole school. That's why I'm worked up or whatever."

It was silent for the rest of the trip home. Neither of you looked at each other. Mom stared at the road, you stared out the window.

Once the car was in your townhouse's garage, you couldn't handle the tension anymore. You sighed before apologizing. "Mom, I'm sorry I snapped like that. It wasn't right for me to do that."

She took the keys out of the ignition and replied "And I'm sorry I was so invasive. I'm just excited for you, Mike. I over-reacted."

The two of you got out of the car, met each other in front of it and hugged. You've formed such a strong bond with your mom over the years and fights like that can easily be resolved. "How about we get Italian delivered tonight to celebrate a great first day?" Mom asked

"Mom, that isn't necessary—"

"I insist! We can have our favorite chicken parmesan with spaghetti because of what a great day it was today."

You decided that this was a battle that wasn't worth fighting, so you let her treat you. You do love getting Italian food, but with less money coming in since you quit your job to focus on school, special dinners should be few. You just want to be careful is all.

Once you're in your room, you decide to text Zoey.

/hey its mike :)/

\Hi Mike :3\

/so how was YOUR first day? i didn't get to ask you that/

\It was alright. I mean some parts were better than others, ya feel?\

To flirt or not to flirt? You tried earlier, but you weren't sure if your intentions were clear. Maybe you should focus on gaining a friendship first?

/haha yea I get that/

\I'm already slammed with hw wtf -_-\

/SAME :O/

\What was homework like in homeschool? Was it even a thing?\

/kinda? Like for the online classes my mom couldn't teach me, I had

"homework" from those professors but I was already at home so…/

\lolwat that's dumb\

/haha ikr plus I had a job so that made it worse/

\Where did you work?\

/reception desk at a law firm :/ it was pretty lame tbh/

\Hey, money is money lol\

/haha tru tru/

Shit, how can we keep conversation now? You need to send something else quickly so she doesn't just stop talking to you.

/do you work?/

\Not for money lol\

/?/

\All my work is for CHS theatre :D\

/oooohhhh lol/

\I do want to work in theatre or fashion one day though\

/do you have your work on your phone?/

\Yea, I do!\

She sent you a picture of her in a mirror, wearing a red and gold gown with a slit down the side. She was showing major leg in the picture and boy did it look good. Should you tell her that she's hot or focus on how well made the dress looks?

/you made that?/

\Haha yea! I was Amneris in Aida last year and I made this dress for the big fashion show scene lol\

/it looks really good!/

\Glad you like it! :)\

You decided to take a risk.

/that dress isn't the only thing that looks good in the pic/

She didn't respond for a while. That was concerning.

\Haha thanks ik that :D\

Huh. That wasn't expected. At least she's confident.

/haha confidence, nice!/

\Yea! Everyone's beautiful and people need to recognize that :)\

Is it possible to like a girl more with every word she types? You'd be lucky to get a date with her, but she deserves someone better than you; someone who isn't mentally fucked up and can function properly in society. For now, you can at least settle for being her friend.


End file.
